Cadmus Slaying the Dragon
Category
Tapestries
Date
1500 - 1699
Materials
Wool warp, wool and silk weft.
Measurements
1810 x 1620 mm
Order this imageCollection
Cliveden Estate, Buckinghamshire
NT 766289
Summary
Brussels tapestry - part only, showing Cadmus in red and gold armour, a skin draped around his shoulders and tied in front, as he hurls a rock at a lion coming from the right. At his feet a man crouches, holding his bleeding head in one hand, a fallen wine pot and sword sheath beside him. The iconography is in fact more likely to be Cadmus slaying the dragon that has killed his companions sent to fetch water. Designed 3rd quarter 16th century, woven 16th-17th. Information provided by Victoria and Albert Museum, 9.5.1986